When an aircraft operates at a transonic flight speed above its design Mach number there is a tendency for the shock on the wing to strengthen and increase drag. At some point the shock may become sufficiently strong to also generate a flow separation downstream of the shock and this in turn may induce buffet on the wing or control surface. This buffet may range from light to severe and can result in high local dynamic loads, structure-borne noise or degradation of the handling qualities of the aircraft.
This phenomenon of shock induced buffet has been recognised and resolved previously by the application of vane vortex generators (VVGs) ahead of the shock. Such treatment is usually effective but carries with it an associated parasitic drag penalty that is present for operating conditions throughout the flight envelope.
As described in Holden, H. A. and Babinsky, H. (2003) Shock/boundary layer interaction control using 3D devices In: 41st Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Jan. 6-9, 2003, Reno, Nev., USA, Paper no. AIAA 2003-447, as a transonic flow passes over a 3-D shock bump the supersonic local conditions induce a smeared shock foot with a lambda-like wave pattern.
US 2006/0060720 uses a shock control protrusion to generate a shock extending away from the lower surface of a wing.